Saturday, May 30, 2009

Today's Papers: Can GM Get It Together?

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today's papers
Can GM Get It Together?
By Kara Hadge
Posted Saturday, May 30, 2009, at 6:29 AM ET

The New York Times and the Washington Post lead with stories on saving General Motors. The NYT focuses on Friday's tentative deal by GM to sell the European arm of the company, Opel, to Canadian parts manufacturer Magna in an alliance with Russian bank Sberbank. The WP looks forward to Monday's deadline from the Obama administration for GM's restructuring plans, with word from the Treasury Department that the U.S. government would recoup the $50 billion it plans to pour into the company within five years. The Wall Street Journal tops its world-wide news box with Defense Secretary Robert Gates' warning to North Korea against developing and, in particular, exporting nuclear weapon technologies that could threaten the U.S. and its allies. The Los Angeles Times leads local with a story on severe budget cuts in California. In an effort to trim another $2.8 billion to prevent the state from running out of money this summer, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger proposed deep cuts to education, transportation, and a slew of other government functions.

Although the Opel deal has not been finalized, Magna and Sberbank appear to have won out over Fiat, which was also looking to buy the stake in GM's European operations. Had Fiat done so, it would have become the second-largest car manufacturer in the world, after Toyota. The NYT implies that Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne lost out in the deal, but an earlier story online in the WP yesterday suggested Marchionne was just recoiling due to requests by the German government, which is leading the search for Opel's buyer, "to fund Opel on an emergency basis while the government determines the timing and conditions of financing."

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Kara Hadge is a former Slate intern.

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